Genki Sushi – Chinatown Point

Having found out about Genki Sushi ever since the days I found out about them at Orchard Central, it had made its way to the top of my to-go places for sushi so much so I had managed to ditch my past favourites and go directly there for my sushi fix.

Those who had visited the Orchard Central outlet would know that Genki Sushi is not just about food. It is also about constant innovation and the evolution of technology. The Orchard Central outlet earned the reputation of being one of the first restaurants to adopt a computerised ordering system through iPad. It was later featured again for its clever use of “trains” and even “F1 Cars” placed on a track to deliver orders to the tables, allowing staff to work on other tasks.

Their latest outlet at Chinatown Point takes the same technology from its Orchard Central outlet and added a few other smart ways to improve efficiency. One example is by employing the use of robotic chefs that eliminates the need of having human chefs to be situated at the kitchen to prepare food all the time. This means that there is a more consistent level of food quality produced from the kitchen and the chefs can also concentrate on other tasks in the kitchen. Besides innovation, the new outlet also boasts a much larger seating area, a problem that used to plague the Orchard Central outlet as the latter had a small shop space that frequently led to patrons having to queue and wait for lengthened periods of time.

(Fried Chicken)

The Fried Chicken is just one of the many creative sushis that appears in Genki Sushi’s menu. Unique to its own, it takes a fried piece of bite-sized chicken and places on top of sushi rice wrapped in seaweed with mayo squeezed on the top. The chicken remains to be particularly fragrant though lacks crispiness. The rice is just nicely sweet and seemed pretty tightly packed as it held on firmly. While not the most delectable sushi served here, it holds as one that gives a stronger impression and a kind of novelty to have.

(Salmon Triple Flavour)

The Salmon Triple Flavour is one of the sushis that I will always go for. It is essentially the mix of three different flavours of Salmon sushi that are all served in the menu. The plain jane Salmon sushi remains as the simplest of the lot, with a fresh piece of Salmon sitting on the firmly packed rice that melts on the mouth. The one in the middle is Salmon with Black Pepper, which comes with mayonnaise and cracked black pepper. The crunch of the black pepper is distinct, with its smoky taste but surprisingly not spicy nor choking, though heavy on the taste of Japanese Mayo. The last one is Salmon with Pollock Roe which is like a mentaiko sort of taste and remains to be one of my favourites in the trio of flavours.

(Smoked Duck)

I don’t recall having Smoked Duck in the outlet at Orchard Central; could have been one of the menu items that is exclusively sold in the Chinatown Point outlet. The Smoked Duck is pretty savoury but a bit tough compared to the ones I had in other places though still pretty decent. We just did not like how it felt like the duck was just thrown on the top of the rice because it came off from the sushi rather easily.

(Edo Style Egg)

Edo Style Egg was a sushi with rice stuffed in between a huge slab of tamago. Do not mistake the tamago here to be from the regular Tamago Sushi. The tamago here is cooked and served warm, and despite it having the usual sweetness in tamago, it also was pretty custardy inside.

(Fried Gyoza)

Fried Gyoza is available in both sushi form and ala-carte form where it is being served in threes alone. The sushi version is depicted here where it sits on top of sushi rice and drizzled in mayonnaise. The Gyoza seemed to be fried upon order which is the reason why it takes a bit more time for this sushi to arrive. The Gyoza is served piping hot and is crispy on the skin yet filled with firm meaty goodness inside. Normally we end up dissecting the Gyoza from the rice while we eat the sushi because we would not want to risk our gums getting hurt by the sharp edges on the skin of the Gyoza. Besides that, it is also seemingly too tall to fit inside the mouth in whole. While this is another one of those sushi that has a novelty factor to it, it is seemingly better executed than the Fried Chicken sushi.

(Grilled River Eel)

Grilled River Eel is also the name of the Unagi Sushi sold here. The usual sauce that comes with Unagi Sushis elsewhere is being served separately in a packet where you can opt to drizzle the sauce on top of the Unagi if you wish. The sauce in the packet is salty yet sweet which fits with the grilled eel perfectly, while the grilled eel is a bit scaly that night, though it seemed rather reasonable.

(Brownie)

To end the meal, we have decided to order dessert. The Orchard Central outlet used to serve different Sorbets and Ice-Creams. The Chinatown Point outlet had included Haagen-Daz Ice-Cream on the menu exclusively. The other item only offered in the Chinatown Point outlet that grabbed our attention was the Brownie, which comes with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. The ice-cream had a fragrant scent of vanilla in it and was rather smooth despite being served in a sushi restaurant. The Brownie itself blew us off with its quality. The crusty exterior that leads into the slightly sticky interior. A fact that I like about this Brownie also is that it does not contain nuts which meant that the texture was consistent. The Brownie also held itself quite well without crumbling down and that it was served warm; the way we liked it. It was definitely something we did not expect a sushi restaurant to offer.

Despite the many visits made, Genki Sushi had managed to impress with us time and again with its constant improvement in technology and the somewhat consistent food quality. While it is definitely somewhere that does not serve top-notch fresh sushi, it remains rather good value at its price point for the level of quality provided with the level of freshness. One more thing about one of it’s innovation in Chinatown Point; the self-service plate clearing service is one of my favourite feature in this outlet. Finished a plate of sushi? Just slide it down the chute and it will be sent for cleaning, which means there is no need to wait for someone to clear your plates eventually nor having too much plates blocking on the table! For those who are not interested in sushi, there are also a coupled of fried dishes and dons available so there is something for everyone. Genki Sushi is a must-visit for everyone; even the people most uninterested in food would be blown away by the amount of technology invested in the equipment of the store, which makes for a fun dining experience.